


Time takes violent things, angry things (and makes them kind)

by EveryHumanBeingIsUnique



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Canon-Typical Behavior, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Other, Pining, Post-Episode: s03e01-02 Juno Steel and the Man in Glass, Talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:07:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26757013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EveryHumanBeingIsUnique/pseuds/EveryHumanBeingIsUnique
Summary: “If I left with you, back then, we would have destroyed each other. Or, at least, I would have destroyed you. We- We’d be like fireworks. Amazing to look at, but burned out quickly, and if handled in the wrong way, we would have set everything on fire.” Juno stopped talking for a moment, took a deep breath. He clutched at Nureyev’s hand now and looked up at him. There were tears shining in his eyes.“And now, Juno? Do you still think we’d destroy each other?” he asked softly.After the disaster that was Zolotovna's auction, Peter and Juno start to mend their broken relationship.
Relationships: Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel
Comments: 8
Kudos: 48





	Time takes violent things, angry things (and makes them kind)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you everyone who wants to read this fic I wrote while procrastinating on work.
> 
> Title is from [Sun by Sleeping At Last](https://youtu.be/TKXSIXETmXg), which I listened to on repeat while I wrote this, lol.
> 
> Some dialogue is taken straight from Juno Steel and the Man In Glass. I take no credit for Kabert's amazing work. This is not distributed for money, all rights to the characters and story go to the creators of The Penumbra Podcast!  
> Hope you'll enjoy! Also, thanks to all my friends who beta'd this!

He was still wearing the dress, and Nureyev could not keep his eyes of him, no matter how hard he tried. They had just come back from the mission, and Juno was fiddling with the Gilded Globe of Reaches Far in his hands. Although his make-up was smudged, he looked absolutely stunning. Like a goddess, he stood there, regal and steadfast, as they were debriefed. File it away, for future consideration.

After Buddy was done reviewing the heist, she asked a question he was simultaneously keen to answer, and apprehensive of hearing the answer to.

“Juno, would you mind putting the Map down, darling?” Buddy asked. “Jet can take a look at it later. For now, I want to hear about your experience today. What went well, and what could have gone better?”

Juno put the Map on the table, and it was an action of grace and poise, unlike the misstep he made right at the start of the evening.

“Something that might be improved upon, Captain, is being able to walk on heels,” Nureyev said this while looking directly at Juno, and while his voice was perfectly pleasant and smooth, his eyes burned with something akin to anger.

Juno looked right back at him, a scowl across his face, and responded with “Well, maybe, some people could let their own ego go a bit and trust their partner instead of ignoring everything he has to say, as if I’m some imbecile who doesn’t know what he’s doing!” Juno had gathered speed and volume while talking. Nearing the end of his sentence he was basically yelling at him.

Because Nureyev liked to indulge in pettiness sometimes, he responded by stepping closer. He crossed his arms and leaned right into Juno’s space.

“Maybe I wouldn’t have to, if I was partnered with someone who did know what they were doing, instead of a novice who has no ounce of stealth in his body!” He was steadily losing composure, raising his voice to match that of Juno’s.

“Yeah well, Ransom,” Juno spat the name like it was venom. Which in some sense it very well was. He had chosen the name to remind himself who he was, where he came from, and that he was not to be distracted by handsome ladies who he had history with. “I may have no stealth, but at least I tried to do my job, instead of being too busy cutting me off any time I try to say anything!”

“Are you insinuating I was being unprofessional? I have more experience from the past year alone, than you have had in your whole life!” It hurt when Juno implied that he was being unprofessional. This has been his job his whole life, and he would not be insulted by someone who had spent his whole life on the other side of the law! Juno had no experience pulling of heists, and the one time Nureyev had asked for his help, everything went wrong. He had almost lost his name, he had been tortured, Juno had been tortured, and then he was left alone in a hotel room, without so much as a goodbye.

“I’m not insinuating it, I’m outright stating it!” Juno rebuffed. God, he sounded like a petulant child.

“I was everything but unprofessional! You were flirting with Zolotovna like it wouldn’t jeopardize the mission! You spent all our money at the auction! You pulled everyone’s attention toward you like some shining sun! I had it under control!”

“You were almost caught by a very obvious camera, and you wouldn’t listen to me! What else was I to do?” Juno looked at him, his jaw set, eyebrows raised in an obvious challenge to try to get out of this accusation.

He was just opening his mouth to berate Juno for even daring to bring this up, when he had done so much more wrong, but when he tried to get a word out, he heard he cough. He quickly stepped back, regained his composure. He had totally forgotten about Buddy. She was standing there like a mother ready to berate her children. Nureyev was not in the mood for that, so before Buddy could start, he opened his mouth.

“I’m terribly sorry, Captain. Next heist will have no problems, I assure you,” Nureyev told Buddy Aurinko. And then, because he couldn’t resist it, added under his breath “At least on my part.”

He had hoped that Juno would take the bait, but instead he let out a sigh, and uncrossed his arms. Juno looked tired, now that his anger had left him, and Nureyev shook the impulse to touch his face, wipe the bags under his eyes away, stroke his cheek and feel the stubble on his palm. For future consideration, file it away. This infatuation is unnecessary.

He fully turned to Buddy. “I apologize for my temper. If you’ll excuse me, I’d like to wipe this make-up off.”

He then promptly turned around and stalked to his room. He couldn’t bear to be any closer to Juno, anymore. He was so angry with Juno, but anytime he looked at him he couldn’t help but feel his heart burst with overwhelming love for him. And he had acted irrationally at Zolotovna’s party, although he hadn’t wanted to admit it at the time.

As he stood in front of the mirror, he already regretted fighting with Juno. This was not how he had wanted Ransom to be. Ransom was supposed to be in control, kind, and not utterly infatuated with Juno. Ransom was not supposed to still be mad at Juno for leaving. Juno had never even left Ransom. He was not supposed to be sad to see that Juno had only gotten more scarred in the last year, had even lost an eye. Ransom was supposed to be friendly, but professional with him. And with the rest, for that matter.

When Buddy knocked on the door, he almost hoped it was Juno. Then he berated himself for wanting Juno to come to him.

It was hard to talk with Buddy, to open up to her, but in the end he did feel better. He was excited for the Curemother Prime, and he was wondering what else he might’ve filed away under ‘for future consideration’, what he might have pushed to the darkest parts of his mind. He is still reeling from all this information he’s gained from his short talk with Buddy, when there is another knock on the door.  
This time, it was Juno Steel. He was wearing clothes more resembling his usual attire, and he had taken the make-up off. He still looked radiant.

“Hey there… Ransom,” he said, awkwardly. He was standing in the doorway, looking like he expected he wasn’t allowed to come in.

“Oh, just come in, close the door, and drop the silly moniker. I already regret choosing it.”

He took a step forward but didn’t close the door behind him. 

“Okay, Peter, then-“

“Not that either. Only people who want to be my parent call me Peter, even if I rarely let them. Just call me what you used to.”

Juno then closed the door and stepped forward as if to sit next to him on the bed, but then thought better of it, and stayed standing anyway.

“Sit down, Detective. I won’t bite.” He grinned up at Juno, showing his sharp teeth, but let it fall quickly when he saw Juno’s face. No time for jokes, then. He moved to the side a little, to show Juno he had no qualms of sitting next to each other. Juno shook his head a little and sat down next to him.

“Nureyev, I’m thinking we should probably… talk. About us.”

“So do I.”

“Right, well, umm. I just wanted to say I’m sorry. For today, but also for back then.” Juno spoke hesitantly, like he was still trying to figure out what to say while he was talking. “The last time we saw each other, that night… I messed up. And I don’t know if I hurt you, or how much, but that doesn’t matter, because I shouldn’t have just walked out. And I know what it looked like, hell I know what it was, but I should have at least explained myself to you. And if you want to hear it, I could still explain, but if you think I’m an asshole or something, you are totally allowed to tell me to fuck off.”

Juno stopped there, hesitant, to see or hear his reaction to him. To his apology. Nureyev didn’t know what to say. He had imagined every conversation he could possibly have with him over this, but now that it was actually here, his words have left him. Nothing he can could hide behind as he looked into Juno’s eye, open and vulnerable. He did not bite like Nureyev expected, or sought to keep his apology short and straight to the point. Nureyev quite liked this new Juno, and although every inch of him was begging to disappear, to avoid this confrontation like the plague, he kept still. As he looked at Juno, at what he had made himself to be, he envied him a little, but he mostly just admired him. Juno had sparked a flame in Nureyev to be the best he could. And so, he would have to bear his wounds, just like Juno had done just now.

“There is no need to explain yourself,” Nureyev started to say. Juno immediately took it as a dismissal, because he started to get up. Before he could do anything about it, he laid his hand on Juno’s leg to stop him from going. “I wasn’t quite finished, detective. Please, sit.” 

Juno sat back down, but he didn’t lift his hand from his leg. Juno looked at his hand, then back up at him, and laid his own on top of Nureyev’s. His hand was warm, and rough, but it felt nice all the same.

“I think I understand why you left, that night. It hurt, yes, and I have spent a lot of time being angry with you. But, I’m not anymore. I realize that I gave you an ultimatum, back at- with the bomb, and I shouldn’t have, so I apologize. I don’t hold it against you that you weren’t able to leave, Juno. I just wished that you had told me. I had asked you if you were sure, and you said “yes”. I thought we would be together, Juno. And then I woke up all alone. Though I understand, it still hurts.” He nearly started to cry right there and then, but he held it together. He took a deep breath and steadied himself.

“I know. I know, Nureyev. God, I know. I’m so, so sorry. I wish I did things differently, all the time. But I couldn’t have left with you, Nureyev.” At this Juno looks down, picks up his hand, and starts playing with the fingers. “If I left with you, back then, we would have destroyed each other. Or, at least, I would have destroyed you. I- I wasn’t… great, back then. I had a lot of self-destructive tendencies, and although I lo-liked you, I wouldn’t have been good for you. We- We’d be like fireworks. Amazing to look at, but burned out quickly, and if handled in the wrong way, we would have set everything on fire.” Juno stopped talking for a moment, took a deep breath. He clutched at Nureyev’s hand now and looked up at him. There were tears shining in his eyes.

“And now, Juno? Do you still think we’d destroy each other?” he asked softly.

“No,” Juno answered, just as softly. “I don’t think so. I have been trying to be better. You know,” he laughed a little and wiped his eye. “I’ve been through a lot this past year, and I learned a lot about myself. I’m trying to be not-self-destructive, and open up about my emotions, instead of shutting people out.” A pause, a breath. “I’m still not very good at it though.”

“Well, then, I think we’re made for each other.” Juno laughed softly, and so did Nureyev.

A pause fell, and though there was a tension, it was not unpleasant. Then Juno spoke.

“Umm, Nureyev?”

“Yes, Juno? What is it?”

“Are we friends now? Or acquaintances, or, or something else?” Juno sounded a little scared, and frustrated, but he obviously tried to tone it down for Nureyev’s sake.

“That depends on you, dear Juno. What do you want us to be?” Of course, Nureyev wanted to be friends or and more, but if Juno wanted their relationship to be strictly professional, he wouldn’t deny him that.

“Well, I would like for us to be friends, and more eventually,” he said this while glancing nervously at him. He tried to keep his face blank, but hope ran through his body like a freight train. Juno continued quickly, “but I don’t think it would be healthy for either of us to jump right in to romance, right now. Personally, I think we’ll need to talk more, before we start diving into a relationship.” Juno frowned a little while he spoke, like he couldn’t believe he was actually saying it all out loud.

Nureyev had to admit that he was a little surprised as well. He hadn’t expected Juno to acknowledge that they had to work on their past, before they could continue forward to their future.

“I think that’s an excellent idea, my dear Juno. We could arrange a talk every evening or one evening a week? Whatever suits you best.”

“A talk every evening sounds good. Thank you, Nureyev. You know, I kinda missed you.”

“I kinda missed you too.”

They sat in silence for another minute or so, before Nureyev decidedly took his hand out of Juno’s, and stood up. He held his hand out for Juno to take, and he relished in the feeling of their hands fitted together perfectly. Juno stood up, and for a moment they were so close, Nureyev knew that there was nothing but them in this universe. In his mind He revolved around Juno for a moment, before coming back to himself, and took a step back.

“It was lovely having you here, my dear detective, but I’m afraid it’s rather late, and I’m exceptionally tired. I’ll see you tomorrow?” He phrased the last sentence as a question for Juno to confirm or deny.

“Yeah,” Juno smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Nureyev kissed the top of his hand, and then let go. Juno slowly walked towards the door and looked over his shoulder as he grabbed the handle.

“Goodnight, Peter Nureyev,” he said softly.

“Goodnight, Juno Steel,” Nureyev replied, just as softly.

Then, Juno was gone, and Nureyev was left standing in his room. He didn’t mind as much as he had thought he would. Because, after all, he would see him tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! If you want to, leave some Kudos or a comment! Also, if you notice any mistakes, or have criticism, please lmk!


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